Eight Lipscomb University athletic teams received perfect NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores and twelve teams exceeded the national average for private schools in the latest report issued Tuesday by the NCAA.

“I commend our student-athletes for their hard work in the classroom,” Lipscomb Director of Athletics Philip Hutcheson said. “This academic success is a direct reflection on the quality of Lipscomb’s faculty and the efforts of our coaches to recruit young people with tremendous potential.”

The Academic Progress Rate is a real-time measure of eligibility and retention of student-athletes competing on every Division I sports team. The most recent multi-year rate APR scores are based on the average scores from the 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years.

Women’s golf and women’s tennis had a perfect four-year APR average from 2006 to 2010.

The APR awards two points each term to student-athletes who meet academic-eligibility standards while remaining with the institution. A team's APR is the total points earned by the team at a given time divided by the total points possible.

The goal of the NCAA's academic performance program is improvement, not punishment. Not only does the program ensure accountability for student-athletes, teams and institutions, but also it provides fairness by considering individual circumstances per team and school.

Lipscomb does not have any teams facing penalties as all teams are exceeding NCAA academic standards.